Natasha Lomas
Writer
The Latest from Natasha Lomas
Google is now publishing coronavirus mobility reports, feeding off users’ location history
Google is giving the world a clearer glimpse of exactly how much it knows about people everywhere — using the coronavirus crisis as an opportunity to repackage its persistent tracking of where u
SoftBank terminates $3B tender offer for WeWork shares
SoftBank Group has pulled a $3 billion tender offer for WeWork shares citing closing conditions not being met. The investment behemoth had been rumored to be getting cold feet when the WSJ reported l
An EU coalition of techies is backing a ‘privacy-preserving’ standard for COVID-19 contacts tracing
A European coalition of techies and scientists drawn from at least eight countries, and led by Germany’s Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute for telecoms (HHI), is working on contacts-tracing pr
YouTube sellers found touting bogus coronavirus vaccines and masks
YouTube has been criticized for continuing to host coronavirus disinformation on its video sharing platform during a global health emergency. Two US advocacy groups which campaign for online safety un
Uber Eats beefs up its grocery delivery offer as COVID-19 lockdowns continue
Uber Eats has beefed up grocery delivery options in three markets hard hit by the coronavirus. Uber’s food delivery division said today it’s inked a partnership with supermarket giant Carr
What does a pandemic say about the tech we’ve built?
There’s a joke* being reshared on chat apps that takes the form of a multiple-choice question — asking who’s the leading force in workplace digital transformation? The red-lined punc
Uber co-founder Garrett Camp steps back from board director role
Uber co-founder Garrett Camp is relinquishing his role as a board director and switching to board observer — where he says he’ll focus on product strategy for the ride hailing giant. Camp
Online tutoring marketplace Preply banks $10M to fuel growth in North America, Europe
Online learning looks likely to be a key beneficiary of the social distancing and quarantine measures that are being applied around the world as countries grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. In turn,
Telco metadata grab is for modelling COVID-19 spread, not tracking citizens, says EC
As part of its response to the public health emergency triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission has been leaning on Europe’s telcos to share aggregate location data on their u
It’s still easy to find coronavirus mask ads on Facebook
Ads for face masks are still appearing on Facebook, Instagram and Google, according to a review of the platforms carried out by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP). This despite pledges by the platfor
Delivery Hero urges users to go cashless, no contact for food deliveries
Delivery Hero has switched to cash-less, non-contact for deliveries in areas it defines as “high risk” for the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to reduce personal contact between couri
Oxford Uni academics launch a tracker for COVID-19 policy interventions
Oxford University academics have launched a project to track government responses to the coronavirus pandemic. The tool, called the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), tracks 11 indi
TripActions lays off hundreds amid COVID-19 travel freeze
The coronavirus demand crunch has taken another bite: Palo Alto-based corporate travel-focused unicorn TripActions has confirmed laying off hundreds of staff. Per this post on Blind — written by
Kry launches free service for doctors to do video consultations during COVID-19 crisis
Swedish telehealth startup Kry has launched a tool for healthcare professionals to conduct remote consultations during the coronavirus pandemic. Calls for EU citizens to self isolate to reduce the spr
EU parliament moves to email voting during COVID-19 pandemic
The European Parliament will temporarily allow electronic voting by email as MEPs are forced to work remotely during the coronavirus crisis. A spokeswoman for the parliament confirmed today that an &#
One neat plug-in to join a Zoom call from your browser
Want to join a Zoom meeting in the browser without having to download its app to do so? Check out this browser plug-in that shortcuts the needless friction the videoconferencing company has baked into
Facebook and Disney to downgrade streaming quality in Europe due to COVID-19
Facebook is temporarily downgrading the quality of video streaming in Europe on its social platforms Facebook and Instagram in response to a call for action from the European Commission, per Reuters.
Uber Eats UK waives fees during the coronavirus crisis
Uber Eats is waiving delivery and activations fees in the UK to support restaurants hit by decreasing demand during the coronavirus crisis. The measure will apply until March 31 when it says it will r
What are the rules wrapping privacy during COVID-19?
In a public health emergency that relies on people keeping an anti-social distance from each other to avoid spreading a highly contagious virus for which humans have no pre-existing immunity governmen
YouTube goes SD streaming by default in Europe due to COVID-19
YouTube has switched to standard definition streaming by default in Europe. We asked the company if it planned to do this yesterday, and today a spokeswoman confirmed the step. The move was reported e